Here is some more "conversation"

Since coaches "conversation" topic had so many comments I thought that I'd start one also.......Soooo I have a question...... Since this group is called "Greenhills TRAIL Association" why is there only a Monday night roadie ride and not a group ride on the trails???

Boy, where to start?1.-Just as there is a large variance in conditioning of riders on the Monday night road ride, it can really become spread out on group mountain bike rides. You can divide into smaller groups or you can end up waiting for riders a big part of the day. This is why some riders seek other riders of the same fitness and tech skills.2.-Some riders only have so many "kitchen passes" and it's easier to get to the Monday night ride cause they can ride from home. Riders that have children in multiple activities have to make choices. One choice to fix that problem is to make "riding a bike" one of those activities.3.-Many of our riders don't own mountain bikes and have started cycling as a result of participating in spin classes, etc...4.-Some can afford only one bike and feel they will get more bang for the buck with a road bike.5.-Roads and gravel easier to get to on a limited time schedule and bad weather can lead to poor trail conditions.6.-Someone just needs to organize and lead trips. We used to have Thursday night mountain bike rides at Crowder and Indian Creek and even tried alternating them. It's not like KC where there is a group ride going somewhere about every night of the week.I think it would be great to organize a calendar and go to different locations to ride. The ride leaders would be responsible for all the planning and getting information out. We have lots of day trips or weekend locations that are within 150 miles.7. What started out as a small group of mountain bikers, that also biked on the road, has grown to larger diverse group. Some of us are much more serious than the majority.8. We live in rural Missouri!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Not Colorado.

One interesting thing about groups is that there seems to be a sort of organic dynamic where "clusters " of similar fitness/talent form somewhat naturally. With out a doubt, the faster riders get the short end of the stick (or extended miles and a lot of back tracking). Riding with faster people makes you faster, but the fast people end up spending a lot of time out of their target zone.

Whoa Distalamputee, "target zones!" You'd be surprised how few people have any clue about what their target zones are or how to train with target zones.

Some may just argue that they are not interested in all the science, they just want to ride their bikes. If they don't have the base information, or equipment to determine the base information, it's all just guess work.

Those that are fortunate enough to have access to ergometers, or trainers that have the ability to measure power, speed, cadence, and heart-rate can collect data, quantify it, and develop "target zones."

It's like taking a trip, if you don't know where you are, it's hard to figure out how to get to another point. Perceived exertion will only take you so far and most people are not willing to travel out of the "comfort zone" for any length of time to improve their power at threshold, or VO2 Max. It's that human factor!

Its just a matter of me deciding whether Im getting the 500 or the 705....Im still researching. Most reviews on the 705 are saying that the battery life is only around 3.5 hrs......which on normal days that would be plenty, but we are known to take off on some epic rides around here!!!! I have til Friday to decide.....my wife has set a deadline because shes tired of hearing me talk about it. The other thing Im interested in....is will the 705 and 500 interact??? If 2 people have 500's they can switch data while standing within a few feet of each other....same with the 705's......but can a 705 and 500 exchange???

The only thing that Is making look into the 705 is the functions that let you set up training programs, you can set programs for interval workouts, etc......Im just trying to decide if I want to pay extra for that. My training program as of right now is......get on my bike and go as fast as I can, for as long as I can!!!! No real structure......

Since you also do running in your workouts, you might even have to consider the Forerunner 310XT. It seems to have a lot of bells and whistles and is also waterproof. They will continue to raise the bar with the tech. New toys for big boys.Just be ready for the "ca-ching" at the cash register.

Can't help you there Denny. Maybe our local "tech man" Mark knows the answer, or you might have to call your Garmin conection.

Hey, even if I don't know for sure, I ALWAYS have the answers!

If it were me, the 500 would be cool. It says it can talk to 3rd party power meters and it tracks a bunch of data for you. It doesn't look like it communicates the way the 705 does.

I guess I would have 2 questions for the Garmin guy.

1) What kind of data does the 705 pass back and forth? If it's just route info/map info, then it wouldn't do any good on a 500 anyway. I can see that info being good on a road bike, but not so much on a mountain bike.

2) If you went with the 705 because of the mapping capabilities, does the unit come with maps installed? if not, or all it comes with is the "Americas Basemap", then you would need to install a map, and probably be $100 more in the hole. I have a 60CSx and I can tell you that unless you only want to travel on interstates, the basemap is useless.

I see in the owner's manual for the 705 that it will create .gpx files. These are the type of file I use for the trailmaps on the website. I guess if you want to make a map of where you've been, the 705 would be nice. Otherwise, the 500 would suit me fine. (and the 500 is cheaper in case it gets crunched)

Im really leaning toward the 705 for a few different reasons....1. Since my work schedule leaves me riding mostly alone....the options on the 705 will give me some good motivation to train harder. We all know how hard it is when you ride alone.2. I dont know what happened over the winter but I all of sudden became interested in road racing....I fought it as long as I could. The 705 has some great virtual racing training programs that will come in handy when I have to ride alone.3. and finally the last reason......Im getting an awesome deal from my buddies at Trek Store making it not much more than the 500.

I say get it and we will have at least one rider that will actually know where he is when we are on one of those epic rides I like to whip together. Denny will have mapping capabilities so he can put the route for Chucky's 2011 together.

My calander for now leaves me with Thursdays & Fridays open. I will be making a 4 week rotation -- weeks 1&2 mowing trail, week 3's trail projects, and week 4's Trail Riding Day Trips. It's my mission to get out of town and ride area trails. Aside from Southwest Utah, yours are the only trails I've ridden outside of Kirksville. I want to check out Landahl and other KC stuff, Binder, all the stuff in Columbia, the Berryman, maybe Cedar Creek (except that it looks mainly like horse trail) I'm climbing out of a long time slump and ready to start riding with some vigor again and looking forward to seeing more developed bike culture again.Happy Trails.

I was checking out the web page for my old bike club (colorcountrycycling.org) the other day, and it seems they are in a similar position where the pedulum has swung more towards the road side in what was originally a predominately mtn. bike club. Their measure to even that balance some is to start having two scheduled mtn. rides per month -- one geared more towards racers/ aggressive riding & the other more towards social/ casual rides.

I'm still interested in getting in on group rides if you guys start having them again. I'll be way off the back for a while, but will eventually get fast again.

Honestly I had a plan of leading a ride at Indian Creek on Thursday nights, but my work schedule has been keeping me off my bike lately and im not real thrilled about it. Im now unfortunately looking at getting back in top shape for the end of season mtbike races and cross season which is just around the corner. The one thing I can guarantee is that if it ever quits raining Im going to be a permanent fixture at IC.

By the way you mentioned wanting to get involved in trail work, we are having a trail work day on July 10th at 8am. It will meet at the CR510 parking lot and trailhead.